


parallel lines

by Uhmeduh



Category: Persona 2, Persona 5
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Gen, Katsuya is a serial killer but that's not important, Katsuya trains Sae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 05:33:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30016890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uhmeduh/pseuds/Uhmeduh
Summary: Before she became a public prosecutor, Niijima Sae had a brief stint in the police force, training under none other than Suou Katsuya. Within lies a few brief moments of their interactions.
Relationships: Suou Katsuya & Niijima Sae
Kudos: 15





	1. existent

“Sergeant Suou!” Katsuya almost groaned as he looked over at his superior — his superior that had only gotten the job after he declined the promotion, mind you — who was walking toward him with a young, silver haired woman by his side. “Meet Niijima Sae, you’ll be training her for the next few months.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sergeant!” Niijima seemed to be rather excitable and he couldn’t help but be reminded of another group of excitable kids. Then again, they had all been a lot younger than she was now. 

It had to happen eventually, Katsuya had been in the force for eighteen years — probably almost as long as Niijima had been alive, and he’d been in the Tokyo force for eight of those years. Yet he hadn’t once been made to train a new recruit. It seemed his luck, in that regard, had run out.

Huh, Niijima Sae. That name sounded familiar to him. A moment of thinking reminded him of a colleague by the same name, he had a preference for cakes and didn’t like macarons. And he shared certain facial similarities with this Niijima. 

They were likely related, then. Probably a father or uncle. The elder Niijima had mentioned having two daughters when Katsuya had been interrogating him on what sweets he liked.

“... You too, kid.” He offered her a smile and leaned over to steal the desk chair from one of his coworkers.

He was on a lunch break and probably flirting with the cashier at the convenience store anyway.

“Sit down.” She was bouncing on the balls of her feet with such a frequency that he was almost certain she was going to start levitating.

Heh. That wouldn’t have even been the oddest thing he’d ever seen from a teenager.

He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a plastic container full of his latest test macarons, this time lemon flavoured. He hoped she hadn’t inherited her father’s sweets preferences, because he could only force his brother and his friends to eat so many macarons before they started avoiding him whenever they saw him in the kitchen.

He peeled the lid off the container and set it on his desk, nudging it slightly closer to her with one finger. “So, Niijima,” he leaned back in his chair, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “why do you want to join the force?”

* * *

Suou Katsuya was a bit of an enigma to Sae, she mused as she nibbled on a lemon macaron, following him around the police station while he gave a rather halfhearted tour.

“That’s the shooting range. Good practice, but it’s not as good as shooting… well, other things.” Sergeant Suou got an odd look in his eyes and he grinned over at her with sharp looking teeth.

Of all the detectives, Sae had heard the most about Suou from her father.

“Suou is probably the best detective in the whole station, he could’ve been Chief if he wanted to.” Her father had said at dinner one night, both Sae and Makoto listening attentively to him. “He’s smart and always seems to know things we don’t. Honestly, it’s a good thing he’s still just a Sergeant, he’s best on the field and everyone knows it.”

Sae had walked into the station for her first day as a trainee, with a skip in her step and a gleam in her eye. When the Inspector had told her she would be training under Sergeant Tanaka, she had cut him off.

“What about Sergeant Suou?”

It had probably been extremely disrespectful, she realized as she looked back at it. But the Inspector had just laughed and nodded.

“Serves him right,” he had said, “Suou’s gotten away without training anyone for eight years. Sure, he’s probably at his desk.”

She turned back in as Sergeant Suou came to a stop. “And this is the cafeteria.” He idly handed her another macaron without even looking at her. “The only good coffee machine is the second one from the left. Don’t use any of the others, you’ll regret it and I’ll probably laugh at you.

She didn’t even like coffee but nodded along anyway. After all, she had spent a half hour ranting to him about how she wanted to bring justice just like her father did, she would be quiet for at least as long as this tour took.

But it seemed that he was more observant than she had assumed — her father had said he was the best detective, how could she have forgotten. He had apparently noticed the disgusted look on her face. “Oh, and the coffee machines also just have hot water for tea. Tea bags are with the sugar, we have green and black bagged tea. If you want it loose, you’ll have to bring your own.”

He patted her head and nudged her towards the coffee and tea station. She blinked and wandered in that direction. The pat had been… weird. It made her feel somewhat like a dog, but at the same time it was the exact same kind of thing she did to Makoto.

She glanced back at Suou and he made a ‘go on’ kind of gesture to her, smiling almost awkwardly. She made her tea, unsure if he wanted something. He would’ve told her if he did, right? She returned to him, a cardboard cup full of green tea in her hands but nothing else.

How had he gotten that full cup of steaming coffee in his hands? What?

“Sergeant—?”

“Come on, I’ll show you how to fill out a case report. Paperwork is honestly like 70% of the job. Still better than Chief Abe though, his job is basically all paperwork.” He patted her head again and led her back to his desk.

And if he winked at her when his coworker was walking all around the station looking for his chair, well, she wouldn’t say anything.

* * *

Tatsuya was boring a hole into the side of his skull with his eyes.

“Okay, okay, I get it. No more baking.” His kitchen really was filled with baked desserts, and he had somehow roped Tatsuya into swearing to bring at least a quarter of it back to Jun. He had no doubt that they’d further share it with their friends.

The bang at the door startled him and both his and Tatsuya’s gaze snapped toward it, his hand going to the gun at the table. Even now, the littlest things could set him on edge in one way or another.

But it was fine. Everything was okay. The world was normal.

He grabbed the gun anyway, he was a police officer after all, and it wouldn’t do to be unprepared at any moment.

“Sae?” He furrowed his eyebrows at his former trainee, although it had been nearly two years since she had become his trainee. In the time since then, they had even acted as partners in cases a few times.

“Suou.” Sae looked different, in some way. She held herself to an incredibly high standard at all times, but she wasn’t afraid to smile and relax then.

She looked like she was barely keeping a strict composure.

“... Come in.” He cleared his throat, making sure his brother could hear the words and decide if he wanted to deal with the necessary social interaction or not.

The kitchen was empty by the time he reached it and started to make a cup of green tea.

“My father is dead.” He stiffened slightly, his grip tightening on the teacup. He knew that, despite looking up to her father, Sae also had a somewhat conflicted relationship with him. 

“Ah.” He knew what that meant. Makoto was still just a child, but Sae was a legal adult. And their mother was already dead. The two of them were alone.

It was achingly familiar, his mothers might as well have been dead, and his gaze drifted towards where he knew Tatsuya’s old bedroom was.

He placed the tea in front of her and she sipped it.

He wished she would go back to talking his ear off like she used to. But he could already see the burden on her shoulders, weighing her down and sealing her lips.

He knew he had to offer help, but how.

Oh he could adopt them both! Makoto needed a guardian, but Sae didn’t need the burden of being the only adult in the family. And adult adoption was perfectly common, though in a different context.

Perhaps not. That may be an intrusion to suggest.

And money may be looked down upon as an offence, especially right now.

Still.

“Anything you need, just ask.” He made eye contact with the young woman and she nodded stiffly, her shoulder shuddering.

Now was probably a good time to brush the dust off of his ‘dealing with crying siblings’ skill.

Not that it ever got that much use in the first place, Tatsuya rarely came to him for comfort.

But he still had some.

As he sat, awkwardly holding his crying ex-trainee to his chest, he wondered how he’d explain to Tatsuya that he had a new sibling or two.

It still wouldn’t be anywhere near him trying to understand that his  _ little brother  _ had a boyfriend.

“I’m transferring to public prosecution.”

That might be another problem too, apparently.


	2. nonexistent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A deleted scene, also known as I forgot Sojiro didn’t always own a café and this is technically way too early for him to own it.

Even after Niijima had almost finished her training and become more independent in her work, Katsuya was still happy to help her in anything she needed.

He knew how hard starting out had been, plus she willingly ate his desserts. As it turned out, she had a massive sweet tooth, rivalled only by the likes of Maya.

And she grew into her role quickly. She was a force to be reckoned with, chasing after justice at any possible opportunity, trying to be just like her father.

The elder Niijima had finally started to like his macarons after he made a chocolate flavoured one. As it turned out, he would do anything for chocolate.

Standing on the stage, giving her her badge was an amazing moment, she had been smiling so brightly  _ and  _ he’d only been expected to say a few words.

“Come on, Niijima.” He looked over at his former trainee, who was trying to fix every aspect of her uniform. The ceremony was over, but he understood her behaviour completely. “We’re heading out to dinner, I know a place with amazing curry.”

“But… I was planning to rearrange my desk?” And yet she still followed him with a skip in her step, taking the coat he handed to her.

“It’s tradition, kid.” A tradition he had never gotten to experience before. In reality, he was kind of annoyed, having Niijima as a trainee meant that his routine had been thrown off ever so slightly and it felt like he had only just gotten used to having her around. “Trainer takes their new graduate out to dinner to celebrate. Normally we get drunk off our asses, but you’re younger than most graduates and that’s not  _ technically  _ legal so... “ He shrugged and grinned. “Don’t tell your father.”

The two of them made their way to Yongen-Jaya, Katsuya leading Niijima down an alleyway, the sign proclaiming the building as Café Leblanc.

“Ah, Katsuya. This is the trainee you mentioned last time?” He sat down in his seat, glancing around the café.

Absolutely no one but the three of them. That was good. Comfortable.

“Mm. Niijima, this is Sakura Sojiro. Sojiro, my  _ former  _ trainee Niijima.” He was nearly glowing with pride, though it only showed itself in the emphasis he put onto the word former.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Niijima was beaming even as Sojiro put a cup of coffee and a plate of curry in front of the both of them. She had learned to tolerate the drink in her time training under him, though it was clear that she still preferred a nice cup of green tea.

Katsuya sipped his coffee as he looked over to the eternally blaring TV. Things had been quiet lately, which was good. World altering events had already happened far too many times in his lifetime, he’d prefer to avoid more.

“So, did Katsuya teach you anything interesting?” Sojiro and Niijima were getting along like a house on fire.

“Well, he taught me how to differentiate between rock and human bone! You have to lick it! And to never take the blade out if you’re stabbed!”

Maybe more like the whole world on fire.


End file.
